Wire carrying base



June 19, G. A. KNAPP WIRE CARRYING BASE Filed May 15, 1951 Patented June 19, 1934 UNITED STATES 1,963,662 WIRE CARRYING BASE George A. Knapp, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Knapp Brothers Manufacturing Company,y Ill., a corporation of Illinois Chicago,

Applcation'May 15, 1931, Serial No. 537,533

3 Claims.

This invention has to do with base board construction of the character employed in conducting wires of high and low tension as a part of Y a flexible circuit distribution system of a building or the like.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide a combined wire carrying base and base Vboard made of few parts, and of such construction that all attaching parts are concealed, and presenting a neat and attractive appearance.

Another object of the invention is to provide a wire carrying base with a cover which may be readily inserted in and removed from position I without requiring special connecting means such as screws, bolts and the like, and which will not rattle when in position.

A further object of the invention is to provide -a wire carrying base which completely conceals the wire carried thereby. and at the same time constitutes a base board of attractive appearance.

In carrying out the invention, I provide a wire carrying base which may have a plurality of compartments or raceways to carry wires of high and low tension, and which is adapted for securement to a wall in a, position to occupy the space between the lower part of the wall and the oor, and a base board interlocked with the base in such a manner as to completely conceal all parts of the base from view. The base board made in accordance with this invention includes a wall-engaging portion disposed over the upper portion of the base and provides with the base a male and female connection, a like connection being employed for joining and the lower part of the base. A cove or similar finishing strip is associated with the lower con'- nection in such av manner as to completely conceal the lower part of the base from view so that the base board and cove strip'together give the appearance of a continuous member. The connections are such that the base board may slip downwardly into and may be raised out of engagement with the base so that the base board is thereby maintained in position without the employment of lfurther attaching means. The connections are preferably such as to prevent rattling 'of the parts. When it is desired to obtain access to the wires in the raceways, it is necessary merely to raise and withdraw the base board.`

Further objects and advantages will appearas the description proceeds.

On the drawing:

the lowery marginal portion of the base board Figure 1 is a transverse sectional view showing a wire carrying base and' cover therefor installed andl constructed in accordance with one form of the invention. l c Figure 2 is a View similar to Figure 1, but 60 showing a. modification of the invention.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary elevational view of the wire carrying base shown in Figure 1. Q

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, wherein the same parts are indicated by the same reference characters, a plaster or like wall surface 1 is shown abutting a joist 2 affording a nailing ground. A wire Vcarrying Vbase 3 constructed in accordance with one form of the present invention serves as a continuation of the wall 2 and connects the latter to the floor la..V 'Ihe base 3 is preferably provided with a plurality of raceways 4 and 5 separated by an integral partition 6 for carrying respectively high and low tension wiring. The bottom '7Y of the raceway 5 is 75 disposed substantially horizontally in spaced relation to the floor la and is bent at a point forwardly of the plane or face 8 of the wall and downwardly in the form of a U-shaped foot 9, the lower extremity l0 of which may rest on the 80 floor and support the base 3. The upper wall 11 of the upper raceway 4 extends forwardly to a point beyond the forward face 8 of the wall and is bent upwardly at 12 in substantial parallelism with the face 8, the marginal portion 13 being re- 85 turn bent to constitute a wall-engaging foot spacing the portion 12 from the face 8 of the wall. Securing elements such as screws 14 or the like yembedded in the joist 2`s erve to fasten the'base 3 to the joist. The portion 1 2 of the base 3 is pro- 90v vided with forwardly extending struck out tongues 15 spaced from the body of the portion 12 to provide a 'female member whose function will appear as the descriptionproceeds.

The cover for the base constitutes also a base board and comprises a substantially fiat memberV 16 having its upper portion 17 bent rearwardly and thenback upon itself at 18 and then downwardly at 19 in substantial parallelism with the main body part of the member 16. 'I'he por- 100 tion 19 constitutes essentially a tongue adapted to t in the female member formed in the 'portion 15 with sufficient pressure to obviate rattling.

It will be noted that the tongue 19,is spaced forwardly from the rearmost upper portion 20 of the 105 base board 16 so that said portion, whene'in engagement with the: face 8 of the wall, does not in any way interfere with the fit of the tongue 19 in the female member of the portion 12. It will be noted further that the edge 20 is disposed above i110 the uppermost portion or edge of the base 3 so that the base board 16 completely conceals the upper portion of the base and the securing means 14.

The Vertical dimension of the base board 16 is such that when the tongue 19 is disposed in the female member of the base 3, as shown in Figure 1, the lower marginal portion 21 of the base board extends beyond the lower side or bottom 7 of the raceway 5 and is disposed a substantial distance in the lower female member 9 of the base 3. The space 22 in the female member 9 is of sufficient width to receive, in addition to the lower portion 21 of the base board 16, the downwardly bent marginal portion 23 of a cove strip 24, the lower forward portion of the cove strip being curved so that it substantially merges with the floor. It will be seen from the foregoing that the cove strip 24 completely conceals the lower part 21 of the base board 16 and the entire female member 9 of the base 3, and the uppermost portion of the cove strip is rounded at 25 so that, when the parts are installed as shown in Figure 1, the cove strip 24 and the base board 16 give the apearance of a continuous member completely concealing all parts of the wire carrying base 3 and merging with the floor 1a and the wall l respectively. The parts 16 and 24 collectively constitute a base board assembly and also a quickly vdetachable and attachable cover for a wire carrying base.

In the modification shown in Figure 2, the wire carrying base 26 has somewhat wider compartments or raceways 27 and 28V which are separated by a substantially Z-shaped partition 29, one ange 30 of which is spot welded or otherwise suitably secured to the rear wall of the wire carrying base 26, and the other flange 31 extending upward a substantial distance to form a retaining ledge to! prevent wires carried by the upper racewayv 2'7 from entering the lower raceway 28. The remaining features of the base 26 and baseboard '32, and the cove strip are substantially identical with those described in connection with Figure l and the corresponding parts are numbered correspondingly. It will be noted, however, that the upper rearwardly extending portion 33 of the base board 32 in Figure 2 differs somewhat in design from the corresponding portion 17 of the base board 16.

t will be appreciated that the cover strip 24 may be secured to. the forward marginal portion 34 of the female mem-ber 9 permanently by spot welding or the like, and the space between the marginal portion 23 of the cove strip and the rear wall of the female member 9 will be such as to permit the lower portion 21 of the base board 16, 32, to slide easily therebetween, the fit being sufficiently snug, however, to obviate the possibility of rattling. If desired, moreover, the fit of the tongue 19 at the upper end of the base board 16, 32, may be of a slightly yielding or resilient nature to provide a frictional engagement which will prevent rattling of the upper part of the base board.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that the combined wire carrying base and base board construction made in accordance with the present invention is of a character which functions as part of a wall, carries electric wiring of low and high tension vin a manner which renders the wiring readily accessible for the provision of outlets, serves asa base board, involves merely one stationary and one movable part, and presents a neat appearance, the base itself being entirely concealed from view. Moreover, with the construction herein outlined, rattling between the cover and the wire carrying base is obviated, the use of fastening means therebetween is eliminated, and provision is made for the expeditious application and removal of the cover so that it is but a matter of a moment to obtain access to the raceways of the wire carrying base or to cover the same.

The base board along a wall consists of a plurality of sections, and while the sections are fitted to resist rattling, it will be appreciated that it will require but a slight pressure of the hand against the section in an upward direction to withdraw the same out of the recesses in the base board.

Wires or the like may be held in place by stamped holding clips 35 suitably attached at 36 to the rear walls of the bases. Said clips are spaced to overlap adjacent sections of each base at their junctures, each clip thereby forming a joint plate and also a ground connection at the juncture.

While I have described as illustrative means affording a passage for wiring, it will be understood that pipes or similar conduits may be also carried in said passage, and the terms wire, wires and wiring are intended to be considered as including pipes or conduits for any purpose.

I am aware that many changesmay be made, and numerous details of `construction may be varied through aA wide range without departing V from the principles of this invention, and I, therefore, do not purpose limiting the patent granted hereon, otherwise than necessitated by the prior art.

I claim as my invention:

1. A wire carrying base having a oor engaging foot constituting an upwardly open receiving portion, a finishing strip concealing said portion and having a return bent tongue disposed in said portion and spaced from the rear wall of the latter, l' and a base board member constituting a cover for said base and having a depending portion having a snug sliding fit in said receiving portion betweenvthe rear wall thereof and the tongue of v the finishing strip.

2. A wire carrying base for disposition between a fioor and the lower part of a wall; said base including a part having a struck out tongue cooperating with the remainder of Vsaid part to afford an upwardly opening recess arranged for- 5^ wardly of and independent of said wall; means securing the base to the wall; and a cover for concealing said part and said means; said cover having a portion arranged to substantially engage 13G the wall over said part and formed with a tongue I oifset forwardly from the wall to fit in said recess, whereby when the'cover is applied'to and removed from said base, said cover will not mar the surface of the wall. 3. A wire carrying base for disposition between a floor and the lower part of a wall, means accessible from the front of said base for securing said` base to the wall, and a two part cover for concealing the entire base, one cover part includ- `14:() ing a cove strip constituting a junction between the foot of the base and the floor, and means affording sliding connections between said parts and the base, whereby the other part may be removed to afford access to said securing means without disturbing said cove strip. GEORGE A. KNAPP. 

